About Michael Lombardi

They call him 'Dr. Deep'.Leveraging a unique mix of undersea expertise, an inventive personality, an affinity for writing, and an attraction for the arts, Michael finds himself involved in numerous projects, microventures, and consultancy activities in the undersea community which span all of the humanities subjects. As a diving contractor and technologist by trade, built upon an education in marine science and more than 15 years of 'mud diving' inshore, Michael's continued undersea work spans academic and industry sectors - affording crossed platform approaches to underwater problem solving. His role is often literally 'beneath the surface' - undertaking a variety of program management and creative development responsibilities. His creation of 'Ocean Opportunity Inc.', a 501(c)3 not for profit organization, has afforded the vehicle to apply his innovative, grassroots model for business and exploration to many projects. Just one notable success includes the Diving a Dream Project (2004-2007) which was aired on NBC's Today Show in January 2007.
Michael has held several positions and appointments in institutional diving safety including interim/Diving Safety Officer for NOAA's Caribbean Marine Research Center (1999-2006), interim Diving Safety Officer (2011-2012) for the University of Rhode Island, and a contract position (2009-2014) as Diving Safety Officer for the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. He is a lifetime member of both the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS), and Marine Technology Society (MTS). Michael has stood out as a leader in the community since 1997 as a Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership (HOBY) award recipient, followed with being recognized as one of Rhode Island's '40 Under 40' (2007) by the Providence Business News, and most recently being awarded the 2014 MTS Young Professionals Award.Currently, Michael holds an appointment as co-Chairperson of the Marine Technology Society's Diving Committee, and recently guest edited the 2013 MTS Special Issue on Diving Technology & Techniques.
His program development efforts in deep human scientific exploration of the mesophotic realm have resulted in multiple funding awards through the National Geographic Society's Waitt Grants Program. Evolutions of this work remain a priority, with the project providing the experimental test platform for numerous related ventures.
2012 marked the groundbreaking of the ‘Lombardi Undersea Resource Center’ in Rhode Island, to provide a physical home for Michael’s entrepreneurial undersea exploits, with an emphasis on research and development of advanced manned diving systems. In 2013, Michael was invited by the JF White Contracting Co. to participate in the first training program on the Nuytco Research Ltd. Exosuit Atmospheric Diving System. Michael has since partnered with J.F. White to incubate program development work to take scientific diving to 1000fsw using this exciting new technology.
Presently with a consistent and award winning (2nd Place Science/Environment RI Press Association 2008) publication record, including a syndicated Blog, 'a New Life in the Sea', work featured on local and national media outlets, a forward looking and keen sense for enterprising business development, and routinely operating in the harshest extremes on this planet, Michael is making huge strides in encouraging a greater public understanding and appreciation of the next cultural, social, and evolutionary steps for our species - with a mission to take human exploration and its influences on science, technology, and society where it has not yet ventured - to oceana incognita.
Michael remains a confident, yet struggling artist, environmentalist, entrepreneur, and explorer in more ways than one, making his home in Rhode Island (the Ocean State).